The Rural Voice, 2000-01, Page 21people to their local OMAFRA office
during the problems with the disaster
relief program. He feels the presence
of the Markdale Business Enterprise
Centre and a Regional Information
Co-ordinators co -location which he
hopes to get moved from Markdale to
Walkerton, will mean there is still a
point of entry to the government for
those needing help. (Others say that's
not the plan.)
Murdock says he's ready to
give the new plan a chance,
as long as the Guelph call
centre is up and running before the
closing of local offices (OMAFRA
says that will take up to six months).
"Most of the farmers in my area
already know what to do," he says,
having either learned from years of
experience on the family farm or
studying agriculture in college.
"People had to call the (local)
office anyway. Asiong as the calls
will be handled in Guelph it won't
make a difference."
"The problem will be if we don't
do what we say we'll'do," Murdock
warns, saying he'll voice his anger to
Ernie Hardeman if the call centre
turns out to be "l -800 -voice -mail or
I -800-nobody-there".
But Chittka says many Grey
County farmers will be at a
disadvantage with the new system.
Many don't have access to the
ministry's website because they don't
have private lines to allow internet
access. Other farmers, he says, just
don't want to deal with computers
and the internet. There has been little
consideration for the small to mid-
sized farmers in OMAFRA's
decision. They were the ones who
always relied on the personal contact
with their local ag rep.
And Down says local Ag Reps
and specialists also helped keep
producers informed by attending
meetings of farm organizations and
commodity groups and keeping
people up to date on the latest
developments. In some cases, she
says, commodity groups are helping
pay for research. Who, she wonders,
will be there to report back on that
research?
Andy DeVries,.president of the
Perth County Federation of
Agriculture says the role OMAFRA's
extension specialists played as
independent sources of advice will be
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